


Well, it all started with almost dying

by ditto_licious1



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Cloud is clueless, Crack, First Kiss, Love at First Sight, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Sephiroth is smitten, Sephiroth just want to be treated normally, Sheltered!cloud, Turk!Cloud (kinda), this is my first fic please be nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 16:57:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17626100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ditto_licious1/pseuds/ditto_licious1
Summary: How Cloud meets the gang (and makes a certain General fall head over heels)





	Well, it all started with almost dying

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this was supposed to be a 3000 something word "How I met my boss in an elevator without knowing it was my boss. So I kept talking shit about my boss... to my boss" ........
> 
> Obviously I had a bit of creative fun with the timeline. Also with mineral lore.....
> 
> BE ADVISED, I HAVEN'T ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GAME (I saw a playthrough, but that was a long time ago) SO THERE MIGHT BE SOME THINGS THATS WRONG ://
> 
> This is my first fic. I just wanted to write Cloud and Seph happy :(( please leave a comment of what you thought.

Cloud has lead a very sheltered life.

When Cloud was little he went missing in the mountains of Nibelheim. Cloud doesn’t remember much from the time he was lost, but he’d sometimes still get flashes of the last rays of sunlight between the tall trees, reflecting off the snow. And that’d get him to wonder just how he managed to survive the seven hours he was lost in the cold, snowy mountains of his hometown.

With all the high level monsters around those parts, he really couldn’t blame his mother for calling it a miracle, or for praying to their gods a bit more than she used to.

Nevertheless, Cloud had survived, and although the memories of the event was a blur, he had heard stories of how the search and rescue went down. It had been at the last light of dusk when the search party found him, half frozen and shivering so badly they had to trade of carrying him down the mountain ‘cause he kept flinching out of their grip. At long last they got him home, and his mother had first sobbed with joy, then given him an earful for frightening him, before she realized he was half delirious and pretty much catatonic. She cried again, this time tears of fear for her only child and her last living family member.

Since then mama Strife has been watching over her kid like a hawk for fear of ever (almost) losing him again. And that’s how Cloud has been living the most sheltered life possible since he was ten. He pretty much couldn’t even climb up the stairs to go to the bathroom without his mom interrogating him about where he was going. And he could just forget about going up that mountain again (at any rate not without being supervised by at least two adults at all times). 

The rare occasion the other village kids had asked him out to play, he’d get a steady glare from his mom from across the room till he, disappointedly, had to decline. On the even rarer occasion Cloud was let out to play, his mom was always a few paces behind him, not taking her eyes away for even one second. Tifa was pretty much the only other kid his age he was allowed to socialize with, but it had to be inside the house.

There had been an day when Cloud had gotten around mama Strife’s watchful gaze, but that had ended in a serious tongue lashing in front of the other children, and he’d rather not have a repeat of that embarrassing incidence 

This was was pretty much Clouds’ life for the next six years. Having as little contact with the outside world as possible, he used most of his time reading books, taking notes on any subject that caught his interest, and rereading books (he’d pretty much read through the entirety of their local library twice, and knew maybe half the books my heart). At the end of some days he’d have a whole notebook filled out with his most recent favoured subject, the pages filled with factual theorem and debunking the (obvious) false statements.

Suffice to say he didn't get much information of the outside world, so when he hears from Tifa that one of the older boys had decided to leave Nibleheim to join the Soldier program in Midgar, he’d immediately jumped on to question the who, what, when and where (Cloud wasn’t much of a gossip, but he’d always been thirsting for new knowledge like that).

And through that second hand information Cloud gained a new aspiration. He wanted to be a Soldier. 

Maybe it was the fact that he had been so shielded throughout his childhood, but Cloud pounced on the chance to get out of Nibelheim. He was so parched for something other than studying, reading and writing, that he brought it up with his mother the same night. Needless to say there was a lot of shouting from both sides. His mother had always been a headstrong woman, stubborn and unyielding, absolutely had to have the last word in an argument. Luckly, Cloud had inherited more than just his looks from her. 

The debate lasted well into the night. And just as the clock on the kitchen wall hit 2am they finally reached a compromise. 

Instead of Cloud leaving for Midgar in two months, as he had planned. They agreed that if Cloud were to leave, it would have to be in two years, when he's eighteen, and, as his mom put it, more mature and responsible.  
Cloud honestly hadn’t expected his outburst to bear fruit, and he certainly hadn’t expected his mom to succumb.

So that was how Cloud finally left the nest.

Those two years where the longest years he had experienced in his life. Still, somehow when they finally passed and the time had come, both he and his mom felt they had passed in a flash.

His departure was sad, and filled with tearful goodbyes. His mom had started crying and Cloud felt tears prickling behind his eyes. He felt a ping of regret as he hugged his mother one last time. But, more than anything he felt like it was long overdue.

Cloud hitched a ride out of town with the local mechanic, who was on his way to North Corel to pick up some parts. He then bought a train ticket with the little money he had saved up, got off the train at Costa Del Sol, then proceeded to take the ferry to Midgar. 

Through his journey Cloud experienced a plethora of different emotions, but most prominent was regret and fear, which he, if he was being honestly, expected to feel at some point. He just didn’t expect to feel them before he’d even have set foot in Midgar.

The next inordinate emotion he felt was a wash of unreasonable, unrestrained panic. He hid in an uncrowded alleyway on his way to the Shinra building, and tried to take two or ten big gulps of air as the world passed him by in a blur.

Cloud was standing there from anywhere between fifteen to thirty minutes before a voice broke through his haze.

“Hey, kid, you alright?”

The blond’s head snapped up, but his laboured breathing didn’t let up. He tried to let out a affirmation of his ‘alrightness’, but somehow all that escaped from his throat was a weak croak as his eyes met with other the man’s sharp, dark blue ones. 

The next thing he knew the other man had propped himself on the wall beside him, and leaned down as his warm, big hand found it’s place on his back.

“It’s alright. I’ve got you, buddy.” The hand on his back moved up and down in a soothing rhythm. “Breath along with me.” Another hand was placed on his chest pressing down reassuringly. “I got you.” he murmured again.

It took awhile for Cloud to calm down enough to be able to properly take in his rescuer. Black hair, that almost rivaled his in pikyness, greeted him with a wide grin that match his absurd looking hairdo.

“You with me, kid?”

Cloud gave the man a small smile and a smaller tilt of the head in a mock nod. The man gave him a warm grin back.

“Where do you live, kiddo? I’ll help you get home.” Cloud cocked his head to the side, and looked at the stranger suspiciously.

He’d heard stories of how easy it is to get robbed or assaulted in Midgar if you’re not careful enough, but he never envisioned it to happen the same hour he arrived. He supposed he had been an easy target to pick out, with the amount of wonder he looked at everything with. It’s not his fault he’d never seen buildings taller than nine feet before. But he guess he could have been more cautious. Though the damage is already done.

Cloud furrowed his brows further, and was about to respond with the most none descriptive answer he could think of before he heard a soft pling from the other man's back pocket. The guy immediately straightened his back, reached for the source of the sound and put it up against his ear. He gave Cloud a reassuring smile before turning around and talking into his PHS. (Cloud had pretty much read everything about the device, but the workings of the electromagnetic spectrum had never really interested him as much as Maneria and Monsters did.) 

“Hey. Yeah, I got it... Uh,” The man turns around and eyes Cloud for a good second before continuing into his PHS. “On my way back now, just ran into someone. Yeah. No, it’s fine,” He reached into his pocket with his other and pulled out a little transparent bag with a small stone that was giving off a subtle shine. If Cloud was to guess he’d say it’s a Materia, though there was definitely something strange about it, he’d need to inspect it further to be able to give a definite answer.

“Uh-hu, yeah. Some kind of Materia. No... “ The raven hair sighed deeply and ran his finger through his fringe. “I’d probably have reported it in if that was the case- Sorry Angie. Ok, I’ll see you in a bit.”

As the call had progressed Cloud found himself wandering closer and closer to the small bag dangling off the other man's fingers. He was about to touch it when a strong hand clasped his.

“You have to be careful, kid. I don’t know what kind it is yet.” He said as he gently pushed Cloud’s hand away from the bag containing the Materia, and gave him a soft smile. But Cloud’s attention was glued to the stone, as his eyes suddenly widened in realization of why it seemed so peculiar to him.

Cloud’s hand shot out of the other man’s grip, and grasped the ravens other hand holding solidly onto the so called ‘Materia’. His rescuers face turned from a soft smile to a stony, blank wall.

“What’re you doing, kid.”

“T-this isn’t Materia.” He said with a gasp. Yes, it definitely wasn’t, with that stink it was emitting.

“What?”

“I mean it is- but, at the same time it’s not…” Clouds eyes were still observing the stone cautiously.

“Listen, kid. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but-”

“You don’t understand… this- this is unstable Materia, it needs to be contained immediately!” Cloud was practically shouting.

The man’s face worked through a couple of emotions before settling on comprehension. “Are you sure?”

Cloud finally met his eyes as he nodded in determination.

“And you know how to contain it?”

Cloud paused mid breath. Technically, he knew exactly how to do it. He’ll probably know how it was created and how to safely dispose of its remains after a closer inspection. Then again, he also knows how modify a model TF-9028 turbine so it saves twenty four percent more energy on liftoff and landing than the ones in circulation. Witch is to say-

“-In theory.”

“And what happens if we don’t contain it” The man glances at the bags with furrowed brows. “I mean, I don’t think I’ve seen a Materia this small before. How much damage could it possibly cause?” He says as he slowly shakes the bag with a doubtful look on his face.

Cloud was fast to clasp both his hands around the other man’s, stopping the movement entirely. The blond turned an agitated glare towards the taller man. “I don’t think you understand the severity of our situation right now. I mean looking at it now,” Cloud nods to the ‘Materia’ “It’s a miracle we, and everyone in a seventy foot radius, still haven’t died.”

The raven visibly bleached. “What do you need?” He says stiffly.

“I need a Cure Materia, level two or above, a Manipulate Materia, a hammer and a secluded area.” Cloud could feel his pulse start to quicken again. So much for managing to avoid a full blown panic attack. “Also I probably need someone who can, you know- do the spells…” 

He could feel his blood boiling into his cheeks with shame, as the man did a double take on him. If Cloud’s blood already hadn’t drained out of him in fear of being stuck in a life threatening situation, with a guy who seemed like his life motto probably is something along the lines of ‘wing it till it inevitably kills you’, his face would likely reminisce a fully ripe tomato. But luckily for Cloud (and the people in the surrounding area) the man seemed to have some semblance of professionalism.

“Alright, come with me.” He said as he started walking briskly towards Cloud’s previous destination. “Do you by chance know how long we have before our problem blows up in our face?” He snorts “Literally.” He adds with a weird grimace of a smile and glances down at Cloud who had a bit of difficulty keeping up with the others quick step.

“I honestly can’t tell,” He says, brows knitted in concern. “I need to inspect it further… But if anything, I’d suggest jolting it as little as possible.” Cloud throws a nervous glance at the other’s back pocket where he knew the ‘Materia’ was placed. The man transitioned into a mechanical, stiff run as the words left his mouth. It was so funny to look Cloud couldn’t help let out a small wheeze before he caught himself and turned his head so the man couldn’t catch his smirk.

As they got closer to their destination, Cloud noticed that not only was their end goal close to the Shinra building, but the building itself.

He felt a crick in the neck as he looked up at the biggest structure he’ve ever seen in his life. He stood flabbergasted for a moment, just staring at the construct, before he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. “Let’s keep going.”

They got inside the building which gave Cloud a visual whiplash. The contrast between the outside and inside was as divirging as night and day. Instead of the big bulking mess of rusting metal, the inside was squeaky clean, almost in a compulsive fashion. They kept the brisk pace as they walked across the lobby, a receptionist looked like she was about to say something when her eyes landed on him. Before she got a chance the man flashed her a card. Probably a badge, (either this guy was important or he was part of the military). Cloud jogged for a few seconds to catch up with him, and they both got into an empty elevator. 

Between the half panic attack, the new one he knew was building up to a big one and the threat of imminent death if he made a wrong move, Cloud became jittery. And when Cloud becomes jittery, he turns impulsive. And when Cloud turns impulsive, his thought to mouth filter is- to put it delicately, completely fucking absent.

“Dear Gaia. Look, not that I’m questioning your judgment, but- and hear my out here, maybe bringing an active bomb into a crowded building isn’t one of your brightest ideas?” He ended it as a question, but Cloud knew the other man caught his sarcasm when a black eyebrow was raised in response. But nothing could stop Cloud when he was in one of his ‘moods’. “You’re probably important, so you also probably don’t have people telling you you’re wrong very often. Trust me I get it! Though that’s mostly because I’m always right. Well not always, but like ninety percent of the time. Anyways! It’s good to be wrong sometimes, dude. How else would you learn shit, right?” Cloud knew that is nervous rambling probably did nothing to help their situation, and definitely did nothing to help his situation, but throughout his childhood Cloud had had maybe one friend (Tifa), and that friend wasn’t always available when he wanted to discuss a certain subject, or just wanted to talk to someone other than his mother… he was a very lonely kid. So, basically, a meteor could crash into this planet right now, and it still wouldn’t quell Cloud’s rambling. “I can’t believe this… “ Cloud ran his shaking hands through his spikes. “I can’t believe I’m gonna die the same week I finally move away from home. I can’t believe I’m dying because of someone else’s poor judgment, and not my own.” His hands travel down his face and lands over his eyes “I can’t believe I won the bet against Tifa, oh, my gods, and I can’t even rub it in her face!” Cloud froze mid exhale. “My mom is gonna fucking kill me for dying on her like this-”

“Uh, buddy? As amusing it is to listen to your incoherent rambling you have to get out of the elevator. We’re almost there kid, c’mon.” He gave him a soft smile before pulling out his PHS, tapping on the screen a few times, and put it up to his ear. “Hey, Angeal? Just a heads up I’m headed to yours with a live bomb.” Cloud could faintly hear the “WHAT?” on the other end whilst practically jogging next to the taller man. “Yeah, you know that Materia we found? Well, turns out it’s not really a Materia at all- Yeah, it’s a live bomb.” there was a falter in the others confident stride, and Cloud glanced at him in confusion. “Yeah, he’s a kid I met on- No, No. I know. I’ll have him explain it when we’re there. Yeah… he said he knows how to disarm it… Just trust me, please. Yes I’m sure. Alright. Later.” The man met his gaze for a few steps before speaking again. “If you’re fucking around with me, kid, you’re in a world of trouble.” 

Cloud didn’t say anything as they continued down the maze of hallways. The raven would be witnessing first hand just how much he wasn’t ‘fucking around’.

\------------

Angeal had known Zack for for a little more than four years, and in that time he’s been proven to be a obstinate, stubborn, impulsive person with a happy-go-lucky demeanor. But one thing Angeal learned fast about Zack was that he is way smarter than he lets on. He may be a bit brash, but he’s also intuitive. Every time Zack tells him something he takes it under real consideration. 

This is one of those moments. Getting a call from Zack telling him he’s bringing a possible live bomb into his apartment, on the whims of something a kid on the streets no less, made Angeal bristle with fear, annoyance, then acceptance. After listening to Zack’s self-assured tone he knew this wasn’t just one of his student’s infamous pranks. So Angeal takes Zack’s words at face value, and prepares for the worst.

When Zack finally steps in through his door without knocking (not that he ever does), with a blond pretty-boy in tow. He sighs. “Oh, god. Zack if this is another one of you’re ploys-” Zack was after all a nutorious playboy, so Angeal figured it wasn’t that long of a stretch, and it definitely wouldn’t be the first time he’d asked him to play along.

“It’s not, Angeal I promise.” His quick stride didn’t waver as he pushed past him and into his kitchen. As Angeal heard him rummaging through his drawers his eyes landed on the short blond still standing by the door. 

“You supplied the information?” He questioned. The boy gave him a nod then skittishly looked around his home. “How do you know?”

“I… studied the subject.” The blond was obviously panicked, a small tremble in his voice giving it away.

“Do you really expect us to believe that? That you just coincidentally know about this special, rare type Materia?” Angeal certainly wasn’t convinced.

The kid’s eyes shot up, finally meet his. “It’s not Materia. And I frankly don't appreciate your tone. You think I would have come along if I was deceiving you?” He sighed. “Besides, can’t you smell that? That’s definitely not the smell of crystalized mako.”

His tone had surprised Angeal so much he stood speechlessly blinking at the blond. He certainly hadn’t expected that. Hell, he hadn’t have someone talk to him like that for the past ten years.

“Ignore him. I’m pretty sure he’s having a minor panic attack.” Zack said as he stepped into the living room with a bag of his Materia and his meat mallet. What. “He hasn’t shut up since we came into the building.”

“Minor?! There’s nothing minor about it, I can feel my heart in my eyes! I can’t believe I let you drag me into this mess!”

“Yeah, yeah, this is all my fault. I’m sorry in advance if this kills you because your sitting in a corner crying over unspilled milk instead of helping me,” He said as he pulled out a Materia in a small bag. “Temporary unspilled anyway.” The Blond’s eyes widened comically.

“Wait, we’re doing this here?”

“Is that a problem?” Zack said wearing a small, amused smile. 

“Uh? Yes, it’s a problem!” Angeal stood in silence, watching them banter. He doesn’t know who this blond kid is but he really measures up to Zack in tenacity. He’d never met anyone that would talk to famous Soldiers like that. He could easily see Zack and him becoming friends in the near future. “If you botch the casting, this whole building’s gonna crumble. Not only killing us in the process but every other person inside of it!” Oh, right. There was also that near future… 

“You can do it here. This whole floor is reinforced. It’s probably the safest place to set off a bomb in Midgar, if there ever was one.” 

The blond’s face warped from panic to determination in a second, he walked further into his apartment, stopping beside Zack. “Alright, you can put the bomb on the table,” He pointed at his scruffy coffee table.

“Can you guys stop calling it a bomb? You’re making me antsy…”

The blond gave Zack a longsuffering look before sighing. “Bless your heart.” Angeal had never heard someone manage to make that string of words sound like an insult before “Give me the hammer.” He held out his other hand.

Zack gave him a dubious look. “You’re not gonna hit it with the hammer, are you?” The boy gave him another deadpan look before snatching the hammer out of Zack’s hand.

“Of course not, idiot.” And if Angeal hadn’t found himself smackdab in the middle of a dangerous situation he'd have laughed. This kid was really bold.

He watched as his student set the mantria down in the middle of the coffee table and step back. The blond sat down on the floor and started inspecting the Materia, carefully prodding and turning it with the handle of the meat mallet, even sniffing it at some point, Angeal and Zack stood over him in anticipation. It’d been half a minute before he let out a sound.

“Found something.”

“What is it?” Angeal could help but sound intrigued.

“A crack. It’s barely visible, but it’s there, and it’s messing up what little balance there is to the Materia.”

“So? What do you recomend blondie?” Zack said with a sly grin, the boy’s face did something as if he’d tasted something sour.

“The only thing we can do, we have to heal it.” He said as he stood up from his spot on the floor. “Do you have the Cure?” 

Zack tug through his bag of Materia and handed the green orb to the kid. “Will this do?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” He said as he handed it onto him with an embarrassed look. “Go ahead.”

Angeal blinked. “You want me to do it?”

His student leaned towards him and held his hand in front of his mouth. “He doesn’t know how to cast.” He said in a mock whisper.

He glanced towards the boy again. With the blush spreading across his face the boy looked even younger. “Whatever. Just do it.” he muttered back.

Angeal stepped up to the Materia on the table, and quickly cast the Cure. “Did it work?”

Cloud leaned over the coffee table for a closer examination, saying “Yeah, it did.” Before leaning back into an upright position and turning to consider Zack.

“Oh, right! Here.“ he said and handed Angeal another Materia.

“Manipulate?”

“Yeah. Try to lead the magic out of the orb and then let go.” He nodded.

“You can’t manipulate inanimate objects… “ He turned towards the blond with a dubious expression. Maybe he’d entertained this kid for long enough. It was kinda fun to see Zack finally meet his match. But the blond just gave him confused look.

“It’s not inanimate?” He questioned with a slight tilt to the head. And, Oh, gods he even had a puppy look rivalling Zack’s! If this turned out to be a hoax they’d at least got to meet a blond Zack. “Just think of it as an engine without a cooling system. It keeps building up energy, getting hotter and hotter in the process, you’d need to cool it down or release the excess energy before it catches fire. Or in our case, blows us up.”

Angeal kinda understood the analogy, but not the reasoning at all. But he left all traces of doubt in the back of his head for later, took to the same position and closed his eyes to focus on the energy in the other Materia. After a few seconds he could feel the pressure of the energy building inside the stone as he cast the Manipulate Materia. Trying to manipulate an invisible force wasn’t something he’d done before, mostly because he didn’t even know it was possible, if anything Angeal could at least think of this as a teachable moment. He felt the casting connect and tried to lead the energy out of the orb.

Angeal snapped his eyes open as he felt a surge push past him, making him stumble back a few steps. He looked up at the other two occupants of his living room only for his Zack to also have stumbled and for the blond Zack to have fallen on his ass and was scrambling to stand up. His student met his worried gaze then drifted to the Materia on the table. Angeal followed his eyes and was surprised to see the Materia completely void of any color. It was completely transparent and even the faint glow from before was gone. It looked like a polished crystal rich ladies would have made into jewelry, the very expensive kind. Both he and Zack were gazing intently at the pretty jewel, when a large hammer shattered the crystal on the table. He’d deny it out loud until the moment he died, but he was definitely startled by it. The blond kid kept hitting the crystal with his meat mallet until it was a fine powder, denting his poor coffee table in the processes. And, oh, gosh, there was the smell. Angeal and Zack stood flabbergasted and watching from the sidelines. The kid was breathing hard at the end of it.

“Ok, kid, you wanna explain what exactly that was? Or do I have to make my own assumptions of who you might be?” Angeal was careful to keep his voice stern, because if the kid wasn’t swayed by their soldier status, he’d just have to assume the role of the adult in the room.

The boy before him ran a not-so-steady hand through his wild hair and sighed as he flopped down on his couch. “Ok, first of all, you both need to stop calling me ‘kid’. I’m 18 years old for Gaia’s sake.” Angeal’s eyebrows climber to his hairline. He glanced over at Zack, and found the feeling mutual. So Zack hadn’t know either. “And my name is Cloud Strife, so enough with the stupid nicknames.” He shot Zack a dirty look.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Cloud. I’m Angeal and this is Zack.” Angeal waited for recognition to settle over the blond’s features, but only a small smile and a nod in greeting was found. It seem like maybe Cloud hadn’t heard of them before? Which was weird for a guy living in Midgar.

“I’ll try to explain what happened, won’t be easy though… “

ZacK sat down on the cushion beside him and made himself comfortable. “Go for it, Spike.” 

Cloud trew a third unimpressed look at Zack as he settled in. “Basically what that was is something called a Kibir crystal, it’s usually found underground, west of Fort Condor. The crystal is capable of siphoning from the Lifestream energy running underground. And the thing with Kibir crystals is that it’s not made of Mako so it could never be used as a normal Matera- I mean you could use it, try to cast with it, and if you’re lucky and it doesn’t blow up in your face, you could maybe only be able to use it once before it cracks and becomes unstable. Then it’ll definitely blow up in your face.” he says with a wry smile before clearing his throat and continuing. “Anyway, the crystals in the ground are huge, usually bigger than a house, those are normally undamage so the energy they siphon is in circulation always. But when the Crystal do become damaged, just like this was,” he points at the powder on the table, “They become like an energy trap. It siphons the energy and jails it inside, making the pressure build more and more until it one day-” Cloud mimics an explosion sound and made his hands imitate it.

Angeal decided to ignore the mention of the Lifestream. Everyone was entitled to their religion after all. No matter how wacky.

“Wait, why haven’t I heard of this crystal before?” Zack asks with furrowed brows.

“The crystals are exceedingly rare and the locals are extremely good at keeping information about them under wrap for obvious reasons. So I wouldn’t be surprised if most people don’t know they exist.”

“Oh, man. This is definitely a bigger problem on our hands than we expected.” Zack said with a big exhale.

“Wait, how do you know about all this? If information about them is so secret. How could you possibly know?” Angeal knew suspicious when he saw it, and Cloud was nothing but.

“As I’ve already said to that g- Zack. I’ve studied the subject.” He said and coughed into his hand.

“That must have been hard with no books on the topic… “ Angeal raised an eyebrow, he felt Zack’s eyes bore into him. But he wasn’t gonna let up, he knew Cloud was hiding something, and he was gonna find out what it was.

“I never said there are no books on the matter. You just need to know where to look. There are actually multiple books on the matter, it’s just that depending on where the books come from they are called different things. The crystals are not well known, so everytime a researcher come across it they think they’ve discovered a new thing.” He said, a hint of a smile on his face. “The information is therefor spread out. Some believe the crystals are organic matter, others believe they’re pure minerals. I even read about a theory stating they were gods of old who turned themselves into crystal to protect the people from their own power.” There was a quiet in the room. “I know, it’s pretty interesting.” Zack snorted.

“What about you, Cloud? Where are you from?” The blond’s eyes narrowed.

“Is this an interrogation? Because I really have done nothing wrong. In fact I probably saved a couple of lives today. No offence, but you guys didn’t seem that caught up on what was happening.” Cloud was pretty much glaring at them now.

“It’s not like that, Cloud. Try to see it from our perspective. A ki- guy I met on the streets just so happened to know everything about a bomb I’ve been tracking down. And with the war going on, we have to assume the worst-” Zack tried a reassured tone before he was cut of.

“Wait, hold on. War? What war?” He asked, wide eyed.

Angeal and Zack looked at each other. Both with a perplexed expression. How could anyone not know about the Wutai war at this point. Sure peace treaties and disarmament was just around the corner, but you couldn’t find a newspaper not talking about the subject.

“You’re not from Midgar, are you?” Either this guy was a very bad liar or he really had no idea.

“...No, I’m from Nibelheim. I arrived at Midgar today.” He cast a wary look around the room. 

“Oh, my god. This is your first day in Midgar and you had to help disarm a bomb? Man you must have the worst luck ever-”

“Puppy, enough. So, Cloud, not that we don’t appreciate what you’ve done today, but why are you in Midgar?” Angeal shifted where he stood, a bit more relaxed now that he didn’t suspect the kid as much.

“I’m here to join the Soldier program.”

“What? That’s one huge fucking coincide-”

“Puppy, shush. So, I’m guessing you guys are Soldiers?” He said with a droll.

Zack turned with an affronted look on his face. “Is that allowed? I feel like it should be illegal.”

“That’s pretty cool.” The blond continued as if he hadn’t heard the other man (though his amused smirk betrayed the fact). “I guess I’ll see you around then.” He said and stood up and walked over to the front door.

“Hold on you’re leaving now?” Zack stood from his spot on the couch to follow the blond.

“I mean, yeah? I was supposed to be at the soldier recruitment center some-” He looked at his wrist to a watch he didn’t have. “Two hours ago.” 

Zack let out a laugh then grinned down at the blond. “I’ll walk you down.” Angeal was over in a second.

“Ah, I think you’ll find a blank report waiting for you, Mr. Fair.” He tutted as he grabbed his student’s collar to keep him in place. Zack gawked as he stumbled backwards.

“I’ll be fine” Cloud smiled, opened the front door and stepped through.

“We’ll probably be in contact for a statement, Cloud. So we’ll see eachother soon enough.” He said with a smile as the door closed shut.

“Do you believe it?” Zack asked as he turned towards him. A serious look on his face, all playfulness from before gone in a flash.

Angeal walked into the kitchen to make some tea, knowing his student would follow him. “I don’t know. He had me convinced, but I’ll need to do some research of my own. Maybe send a sample of the crystal down to the labs to be completely sure… “

“I guess it’d be a failed mission either way.” He said with a loll as he glanced out towards the coffee table.

“Don’t worry about it, puppy. It’s not on you. I’ll make sure he knows that.” Giving him an asurring smile he sat a tea cup in front of his student.

“Thanks, Angeal.” He took a small sip from the warm tea, then looked up at Angeal again. “Was it just me or was that guy really adorable?”

God help him.

\------------

If someone asked Sephiroth to describe himself using one word he would maybe say something along the lines of poised, or possibly confident. He has heard the word intense used before. But patient was not a word he would use. He knows he’s not a patient man. He knows others do as well. Especially his closest friends.

That’s why when Angeal wouldn’t answer his calls or messages, he had no choice but to assume the worst. He wasn’t sure if the other man maybe was sent out on a mission recently, but he’s positive Angeal would mention it to him if that was the case.

He was just stepping out of the elevator on the 64th floor, when a small bundle of yellow slammed into his chest. He looks down and is met with a sea of crystal blue. A child seem to have snuck into the building. He opened his mouth to question him, but was abruptly cut off before he even started.

“Oh, sorry about that, dude.” The blond said, gave him a weak smile, and continued on past him. It is safe to say that the blond left him stunned. He turned around to get a last glance at the blond and found him staring at him, obviously remembering who Sephiroth is. He prepared himself for the inevitable apology and excuse. “Hey, you got any idea where the Soldier recruitment floor is?” And Sephiroth must have stood frozen staring at the kid, because the next thing he knew the other was walking back the few steps separating them. He looked up at him in concern. He looked at him in concern. “You feeling alright?”

Sephiroth managed to pull himself together and somehow was able to scramble forth a reply. “Fourth floor.” He muttered. The blond smiled up at him again, and Sephiroth’s breath left him.

“If you’re not feeling well you can have this.” He slowly reached for Sephiroth’s hand, straightening his fingers and placed a Cure Materia in his palm. “I am going to need it back though. It’s borrowed.” 

Sephiroth didn’t need a Cure, he had a fully mastered one in his apartment. And he certainly didn’t want to go through the hassle of borrowing one and having to return it. So the fact that he didn’t immediately sneer at the blond and throw his Cure Materia back in his face, had him worried. But the fact that he rather gave a small nod in thanks and closed his fingers around the orb had him terrified.

The blond turned on his heels. “You know where to find me.” And started trekking down the hallway towards the elevator.

Sephiroth was still frozen to the core as he walked through Angeal’s door.

“Hey, you ok?” He heard his friend’s worried tone from the living room.

“There’s a kid loose in the building.” he replied coolly, trying not to make his dishevelment show. Angeal’s puppy gave a small snort from where he was sitting on the couch.

“Apparently he’s not a kid, he’s 18.” He muttered into his cup.

“I take it you know who that was? What is he, a distant relative?” he glanced at Zack as he stepped into the living room.

“Oh, ha, ha. You guys are hilarious.”

“Did you run into him in the hallway?” His friend tried, and failed to hide his smirk behind his cup.

“More like he ran into me.” He said as he sat down beside the puppy who was trying not to laugh around his (Sephiroth assumes) tea.

“Really? What did he say?” 

“He called me… dude.” Zack then chose to abandon all pretense of not laughing, till he started coughing. Angeal cast him a grin. “What am I missing here?”

“He’s from a remote village. It seems like he’s pretty much running on zero knowledge on the outside world.”

“Well, that’s not true. He knew a lot about the bomb.” Zack said after another sip.

“What bomb?”

“I’ll tell you later. There’s tea in the kitchen.” Angeal nodded his head in it’s direction.

Sephiroth stood up and poured himself a cup. He would certainly be happy for something calming. “He also gave me a Cure Materia. Well, leant me one.” He heard a weak ‘Oh?’ from the living room, followed by slight shuffling. As he returned to the room Angeal and his student seemed to be engaging in a staring contest.

“He stole my Materia?” It was said like a question rather than the statement Sephiroth knew it should be.

“He said he borrowed it.” He statet lightly as he sipped his tea.

“Well, give it here then.” Angeal held out his hand.

“It’s fine. He’ll probably want to return it to you personally. There was a lull in the room before Sephiroth decided to continue. “So what’s this about a bomb?” He eyed the fine powder on the coffee table, and scrunched his nose at the smell.

\------------

No matter what was said by Angeal and his puppy, Sephiroth had not been following the blond, who’s name is Cloud, according to his friends. And if he was spending a bit more time below floor 30 than he used to, that is his, and no one else's business. 

No, Sephiroth wasn’t following Cloud. In fact he had not seen hide or hair of the blond since their run-in in the hallway. When Angeal sent his student to find the soldier-to-be, to affirm the report written about the bomb diffusion, and he came back empty handed, with not a single clue of where he was. Because apparently he wasn’t even registered to the Soldier program. They figured that maybe the blond had lied about the Materia bomb, destroyed a perfectly good Materia on the other First’s coffee table, ruined the puppy’s mission and gotten away with it scot-free.

That was until the investigation Angeal was conducting yielded results. They found the crystals, but couldn’t bring back a sample, because apart from being massive, they were also incredibly sensitive. And they certainly wouldn’t risk men just to confirm what they already knew, not with a war still hanging over their collective heads. (Sephiroth and Angeal was pretty much a part of Zack’s mission at this point. Him mostly out of curiosity.)

So that’s how they found out the blond is missing. According to the cameras he hadn’t been seen leaving the building that day. In fact the last any camera saw him was getting off on the fourth floor they later found out. And then gone. Not even the Soldier registrant that had seen him that day apparently. A person could not vanish into thin air. Not as far as he knew anyway.

So the only other logical conclusion was that he was taken. And he could only think of one group that was able to disappear a person inside the Shinra building.

“I’ve come to inquire you about the whereabouts of a certain would-be Soldier.”

“Oh? And why would you assume I know where this person is?” Tseng, leader of the Turks, glanced up from his paperwork to meet his green cat-like eyes.

“I have been informed he left the fourth floor with one of your people three days ago.” Sephiroth lied.

“And who exactly would this informant of yours be?” He knew what the other man was trying to do, but he certainly wasn’t going to let a Turk best him. Leader or not.

“I don’t see how that matters. What does matter is my mission’s success, and for that we need the boy for his statement.” He said icely.

“Why, pray tell, has the General been sent to do such a tedious task?” He glanced up again, this time with interest present in his eyes.

“As I said, all else but the mission, does not matter at this moment. If you have any further questions I’ll be pleased to answer them at a later date.” 

“My, apologies General, but-”

“Hey, I finished the second one-” A young voice cut the Turk off before he could finish telling his lie. “Oh, hey, it’s you.”

Sephiroth turned and was faced with the same endless blue eyes that stole his breath away three days ago, just as they did now. The blond was smiling at him, and Sephiroth didn’t know it was possible to miss something he’d never had.

“Are you feeling better?” The blond asked him, stepping closer. 

Sephiroth blinked a few times, certainly not expecting to come face to face with the person that caused such turmoil inside of him, this soon. But still he willed himself into action. He would be damned if he gave the Turks something to use against him.

“I- Yes.” Sephiroth cleared his throat. 

“Oh, that’s good.” He said with a smile and stepped past him towards the Turk. “Here you go.” He placed a thick notebook on the other man’s desk. “I wrote down my sources like you asked me to. And where you can’t find a source cited I used my common sense.” The Turk was obviously restraining himself from letting out a defeated sigh. “I’ll get started on the next one later today, if that’s ok.” apparently it had to be ok, because it, unquestionably, was a statement. The blond gave him a smile and a nod before continuing out the door. Sephiroth threw a glance at the Turk leader one last time, found him already reading the notebook, and continuing out after the blond.

He found him already standing by the elevator. “Cloud.”

“Yeah?” 

“I would like it if- Would you give me a moment.” Sephiroth had honestly never felt this way before, a feeling akin to wanting to throw himself down a deep hole.

“Uh, sure.” He uttered, sending him a hesitant smile.

“If you would follow me.” He stepped into the elevator, the blond right behind him. After a while the blond continued talking as they headed up to the 64th floor.

“How do you know my name?” And Sephiroth had not thought of that. But there was only one explanation he could give that wouldn’t scare the blond away. He definitely didn’t want that.

“Angeal told me about you- that is to say, told me about your mission. Well not precisely your mission, but rather the one you interfered with. Not that you weren't an asset--”

“Hey, it’s fine. I get it.” The blond’s hand was on his arm, and the wanting-to-be-thrown-down-a-deep-hole feeling came and passed as he looked down on the blond man smiling up at him. “I was just thrown since you know my name and I don’t yours.” Sephiroth caught the concealed question well enough. He had been trained rigorously in such social cues ever since he had met Genesis.

But he also knew that the second he gave his name there was a chance the blond would be turned into a nervous mess, like every other person does when they meet him. He wouldn’t delude himself into thinking anyone who was staying in Midgar wouldn’t hear bout him and his deeds. No matter where he’s from, he’s bound to hear his name being uttered in detest or misplaced admiration soon enough. 

So he does something he’s never done for such a trivial matter. He lies.

“It’s Seph.” Or rather bends the truth a little. (Another thing Genesis taught him.)

“Seth?” He nodded. Alright, so it turned into a full-blown lie after all. “It’s nice to properly meet you.” And suddenly the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach that came with lying passed just as fast as the last knot.

“Yes.” There was a quiet before he recalled the Materia he borrowed. “You may have this back.” He placed the Materia in the other’s palm. Fingers lightly grazing the other man’s skin.

“Did it help?” His blue eyes met his.

“It did.” He offered a small smile.

“I’m glad.” He grinned up at him, and his heart skipped a beat. That was odd, he’ll have to take it up with Hojo later. “I- I actually kinda borrowed it from Angeal… without asking. I was always going to give it back. You just looked like you needed it more.”

“Why did you borrow it?” he asked, intrigued by the blond in front of him.

“I wanted to… learn how to cast. Because everytime I say I can’t, someone looks at me weird. So I figured if I wanted to be a Soldier I should at least be able to use Materia.” He looks away, and Sephiroth can see his ears tinted red. The blond really should not be as endearing as he is. “It sounds pretty stupid when I say it out loud.”

“It’s not.” He could understand wanting to prove yourself more than anything. “Follow me.” He said as they got off at their floor, and soon enough walked through Angeal’s apartment once more. Angeal was waiting for them in the kitchen, papers strewn across the counter.

“Oh! Cloud, I wasn’t expecting to see you anytime soon. You know, with the fact that the Turks kidnapped you.” He smirked.

“It wasn’t as much a kidnapping as it was a job offer if I’m honest.” The blond muttered as he walked over to Angeal “Where’s Zack?”

“He’s away on mission.” Sephiroth answered. Walking behind Cloud.

 

“Wait. You got a job as a Turk?” Angeal asked, looking up from the papers to regard the smaller man. 

“More like an archiver. They first wanted me to go through their file on the Kibir crystals. And thank god I did because, boy was that just a pile of misinformation.” He let out a snort. “But then I kind of accidentally read the file they had on the Nibelheim Dragon” He gestured with air quote around the word ‘accidentally’. "And it turned into this big revising mission for all kind of different files.”

“You told them about the crystal?”

“About that, I’m pretty sure your apartment is bugged?” He sniffed and leaned over Angeals shoulder to read his papers. 

“Oh, that’s just-! Gaia grant me strength… “ And Sephiroth felth for him as he ran his hands through his hair and down to his face.

“Is this the report you want my statement on?” He asked as he picked up the paper and started reading it.

“Yes. and I would thank you not to read my confidential papers.” Angeal snatched back the paper, and tucked it into a folder.

“Kibir is spelled with a ‘k’.” The taller man frowned down on his folder. “So what? Are you guys super important Soldiers or something?” 

“Something like that.” He said before Angeal could respond. He could see his friend looking at him from the corner of his eye.

They sat down, and Sephiroth went into the kitchen to make some tea as they talked. He knew Angeal would talk to him about his continual presence later. And he’s not sure he would be able to give a satisfactory answer as to why he was so insistent on hanging around.

Sephiroth walked in with a tray of tea cups and the blond thanked him as he handed him a cup. He sat in silence as he listened to the blond speak in a calming voice. Apparently the blond enoyes teaching, because everytime Angeal asked a question relating to the topic, he would go into intricate details, scratching every surface of the matter. Angeal had to often remind him of the report at hand before he could get anymore derailed from the subject, and Cloud would laugh and apologize, but then repeat the act a few minutes later. Sephiroth really shouldn’t be charmed by such behavior. But then again he is learning a lot of new things about himself these days.

At long last they finished writing the report, and the blond was getting ready to leave, when he perked up. “Oh, yeah. Here you go Angeal, thanks for the lend.” He handed the ‘borrowed’ Materia back to the older man. “And for being cool about it.” Angeal gave the blond a reassuring smile.

“No problem, kid.” The blond was about to retaliate, but stopped himself before he could say anything.

“I guess I deserve that.”

“You do.”

Sephiroth cleared his throat, and the endless blue pair of eyes landed on him. “Cloud, If the Turk’s archives really is as uninformed as you say it is, I hope you won’t mind taking a look at the Soldiers registry as well.

“I was exaggerating a bit.” He smiled up at him. “But no, I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“Alright. I will be in touch.”

“See ya’ around, Seth, Angeal.” And the apartment was quiet once more.

“Did he just call you Seth?” His friend asked him incredulously.

Sephiroth went back into the living room to clean up the cups. But he wasn’t as lucky as to get the other to drop the subject with just that.

“I can’t believe you lied about your name.” Sephiroth said nothing as he continued cleaning up after them. “I can’t believe you have a crush on a Turk.”

“He’s not a Turk.”

“I can’t believe you’re not even denying it.” He muttered, following him into the kitchen. “And, by the way, he might as well be at this point. Since everything the Turks get their claws on turns indoctrinated. And, before you say anything, yes, I’m saying this knowing full well that they can hear me. Creepy assholes.” He loudly exclaims the last part.

“We’ll see about that.” 

He can hear Angeal’s faint shout of “Please don’t take that as a challenge.” as he heads out of his apartment, but decides to wholly ignore him.

\------------

The first time Reno hears the rumor about a cute blond taking over the Archiving Branch of the Turks without actually being a Turk, he’d just come back from a two month mission, and was itching for a bit of entertainment. So he headed out the door and down the hallways to hunt them down. Reno did provide a portion of the information written there through his recon missions, so it’s only fair he’d get to overlook the revising. He arrived at his destination only a few minutes later and found the blond behind a big Oak desk with papers and files spread across the entirety of the surface. The man's nose was scrunched up in a way that could only be called cute (rumor confirmed), the hand holding a pen paused over a page. 

“So, you’re our new glorified secretary.” The other man glanced up and, wow, the rumors really were true. 

“Excuse me?” His voice was deeper than Reno had assumed. “Who are you?”

“I’m just saying, there can’t be that much to do around here. So, what do you do? Like rearrange our filing system?”

“Hold on, a- are you Reno?” And Reno really didn’t like that smirk that accompanied his name.

“What if I am, yo.”

The blond’s amusement didn’t falter, as he hoped it would at his stern voice. The smaller man hummed before continuing. “Oh, nothing. I’ve just been expecting to meet you. Tseng told me all about you.” The man’s smirk turned into a full blown grin.

Reno grinned back. He was so not losing to a not-Turk at being snarky. “You’ve been asking for me I see.”

“Yeah.” His voice turned low and flirty. He guessed the blond really had it in him to be a Turk one day. “I’ve been wanting to meet the moron that wrote dossier F-17 through 22, figured you must be a special kind of idiot to get so much wrong.” The blond actually had the audacity to wink at him.

“Listen here, pretty-boy. I don’t know what kind of deal you got from Tseng, but you work for the Turks now and that means-”

“And that’s where you you lose me. See I don’t actually as much work for you as I…. don’t.” He leaned back in his chair. “I work as the supervisor of the Information and Logistics Unit. Heard of it?” Before Reno could answer the blond continued. “I didn’t expect you to. Mostly because the Turk Archiving Branch was in so much disarray, they had to literally create a separate unit to fix that. I’m putting a lot of blame on the Turks actually. The Soldier division was also partly to blame with their practically non-existent registry.” 

“Wait, so you’re working for both the Turks and the Soldiers?” He asked. He was a sceptic at heart after all.

“I work alongside you. It would do you well to remember that.”

“And why exactly is that?” He smirked.

“Because the next time you you need me to spell-check your report, you’ll know here to find me. Gods know you need the help.” And Reno’s blood was boiling.

“You fuckin-”

“Cloud, are you ready?” The door behind Reno had opened and let in a person without him even realizing. He flinched as he turned around and was met with the most feared man in the Shinra building.

“Yep. Just finished up here.” The blond- Cloud -said as Reno heard shuffling of paper, but was too busy staring at the taller man to turn around and confirm because General Sephiroth was standing there glaring at him. There’s no way he was leaving his back open to that. 

“Oh, would you look at the time it seems I’ve important matter to attend to.” Reno rounded the Soldier (never turning his back) and stepped towards the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, General.” He had never power-walked faster out of a room before. He’s glad he didn’t bring Rude with him, the teasing would have been relentless. Tough knowing his fellow Turk, the room was definitely bugged. Hopefully he would have some luck bribing himself to the recording.

At least the blond had delivered on entertainment.

\------------

“Seph? You ok?” He walked up to the other man who stood frozen by the door, not unlike the first time they met. But this time there definitely was something wrong, not just an opening for Cloud’s (bad) flirting.

“-My apologies, Cloud. It was never my intention to lie to you. But I suppose I will understand if you would want to cease seeing me.” And, oh, Cloud feels bad now. “Though I have been meaning to tell you that if you still wish to learn how to cast Materia I was originally going to teach you, but if you’d rather have Angeal or Zack do it, I would fully support you-” 

Cloud marched the few steps separating them and put his hands on the other man’s soft, perfect cheeks. “Sephiroth, I’m sorry too.” He smiled as the taller man’s eyes turned to him in surprise.

“You knew?”

“I’ve known since you completely avoided my question about your position in Soldier. I wanted to know who you were, and you seemed so adamant on hiding it. I wanted to know if there was something... wrong with you.” His voice slowly turned to a whisper.

“And?” Cloud tilted his head, not fully understanding the question. “Did you find something wrong?” He asked, voice so low it turned hoars.

Cloud’s eyebrows rose, before he let out a small chuckle. “No.” he sighed, And he could feel the tension in the taller man’s shoulders disappear. “You’re perfect.” He said as he softly brushed against the General’s lips.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't put genesis in the story bc he's such a hard character to write like ............chill.
> 
> also i know JACK abt engines (did a 10 sec google) so im pretty much guessing. 
> 
> find me http://art-neechan.tumblr.com/ (i post art)


End file.
